Q: I received a collection letter for a debit they say is from an unpaid speeding ticket.
How can this be if there is no statute of limitations on moving violations. Does this mean My liability to the county considered payed or written off?
A:
No, this means that the county has assigned the rights to collect the debt to another party. Typically, this is a law firm who seeks to take traditional debt collection actions to satisfy the debt. There is no release of the debt and to the best of my knowledge, very old debts of many years can still be collected on and will cause issues if they remain unpaid.
The biggest issue is the mounting collection fees. Some counties such as Cook County will not charge collection fees if you pay the original fine. The county chooses to waive the right to collect those collection fees due to your compliance. Other counties such as Kane County have no such compunction and require a judge's order to waive collection fees. This requires each case to be motioned into court for a fee which can make reducing these collection fees an impossible burden. In many cases, collection fees are comparable with the fines themselves. Because of this, it is advisable that you pay what costs you owe by money order, other certified funds, or cash in person at the clerk of the county's office.
Also, because your ticket is a speeding ticket, if you received court supervision on it, you could have your supervision revoked for failure to comply with the terms of payment. This could result in a conviction issuing (which your insurer will learn of) and a moving violation conviction which can put your license at risk if you have too many (3 in 12 months if you are 21 or over or 2 in 24 months if you are under 21).
Lastly, failure to pay court fees for traffic matters WILL result in a hold on your license. While your license won't be suspended, it will be unable to be renewed. Upon expiration, you can be charged with a class B misdemeanor if you are driving without a valid ID. To avoid this result, the best way is take steps now to pay your fines that you might prevent implications for your license.
Hope that helps!
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